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“Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!” Psalm 71:6
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” Psalm 139:13-16
“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands. How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.” Psalm 127:3-5
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Posted on: October 15, 2008
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Jonathan and I found out Thursday night that we are indeed pregnant! I am only about 5 weeks along, so things are just beginning. We have our first appointment with our midwife on October 24th. Over the last few days, I’ve been experiencing morning (rather, all day) sickness and fatigue. I can’t say that the fatigue is just because of the new baby, as much as the fact that Julia is becoming more and more mobile and keeping me on my toes.
Please keep us in your prayers: that this pregnancy goes smoothly and babe and I stay healthy, that any fears that might arise in me stay at bay, that our family continues to trust in God through all things.
We’ll keep you updated as Baby Dubya Dos progresses!
War. What is it good for?
Posted on: October 7, 2008
I must say that I’ve been known to be a politically charged person. Being that I am very opinionated, the two go hand in hand. But, if by the title of my post you were hoping for my opinion on this year’s election and how I view the Iraqi war, I’m sorry to say you will be disappointed.
However, if you were hoping for something a little more enjoyable, then I have good news.
I recently got Grandma’s Wartime Kitchen: World War II and the Way We Cooked from the library. The idea behind the cookbook is to show you how our grandmothers cooked while having their food rationed. I must say I am loving this book!
I just made Swedish Meatballs last week that were an absolute hit. All of the recipes call for items that you most likely already have tucked away in your pantry or fridge, making dinner time just that much easier.
Now, I will let you know, these recipes aren’t necessarily “health friendly”, given that the desserts call for corn syrup and most of the dinners call for vegetable shortening. However, you can easily replace these items with olive oil, honey, agave or such. Mainly, the idea is to cook with what you have, use all your resources and be mindful of what you eat.
While I enjoy going through different cook books each month, I might be persuaded to make this one a permanent item. It’s pretty much the greatest.
Swedish Meatballs
1 pound ground beef
1 cup day-old bread crumbs (about 3 slices) – *Just process the bread to make the crumbs
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening – *I used olive oil
1 1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350*F.
Combine ground beef, bread, egg, onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt, allspice and pepper. Shape mixture into 24 meatballs.
Heat shortening in a 3-quart Dutch oven. Add meatballs and saute until brown on all sides; remove to bowl. Add 1 cup milk to the Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Stir remaining milk and flour together, add to boiling milk mixture along with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Return meatballs to sauce. Cover and bake 30 minutes. Serve from Dutch oven.
Some variations that I made: I don’t have a Dutch oven, so I just browned the meat in a regular pan. Then I moved them to a small baking dish. I made the sauce in the pan I used for the meat, then poured it over top the meatballs, covered with foil and baked.
Cha-ching!
Posted on: October 1, 2008
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Sometimes I wish I was more frugal. That’s not to say that I spend money like a crazy woman, but I don’t cut coupons or actively search out good deals. Take clothes shopping. I’m not a super big fan of shopping, so if I find something I like and it’s on sale, I’ll buy it. However, Jonathan wants to make sure that he is getting the absolute best deal. If there are a pair of jeans for $2 less at another store, he will get those – even if they aren’t his favorite brand/color/best size. Me, I don’t really care all that much. I just want in and out as fast as possible.
This last weekend, my friend, Leah, sent out a coupon for $1 off organic canned tomatoes. This particular brand is at Wal-Mart for $1.49, but, this month the co-op had them on sale for $1.29 (normally $2.29) – since the co-op runs their sales on a monthly basis (1st-30/31st) I sometimes forget their prices. So, this afternoon I ate lunch at the co-op with Jonathan and saw that the cans were an even better deal there with my coupon than at Wal-Mart. I didn’t have the coupons on me, so decided to come back after Julia woke up from her afternoon nap.
I printed off 19 coupons (random number – I thought I had done 20) and went to pick up eggs, milk, yogurt and my discounted cans.
I must admit I felt a little weird with so many cans and using so many coupons. Not sure why, just like I was putting out the cashier or what not. But, the end result was worth it.
19 cans of organic diced tomatoes not on sale – $43.51
19 cans of organic diced tomatoes on sale – $24.51
19 cans of organic diced tomatoes on sale with coupon – $5.51
Total money saved – $38
Sarah’s new found joy of saving money – Priceless
I waited 4 years, for this?
Posted on: September 30, 2008
It can’t be denied, that when you wait for something, it tends to pay off. Sometimes, sometimes, however, it back fires.
I haven’t eaten McDonald’s for four years. I went on a McD’s fast/boycott after watching Super Size Me. Then from there, I slowly cut out more and more fast food restaurants.
Until this past weekend.
Jonathan, Julia and I went to Tennessee. On Saturday we woke up and decided to grab a good filling breakfast. Now, I haven’t been to Tennessee in a few years, but I could have sworn that there were a few breakfast places in town, yet we could not find a single one.
We went to Wal-Mart resolved to pick up some fruit, yogurt and juice. As we passed by the in-house McDonald’s Jonathan remarks on stopping there. I flatly said no, we’d surely regret it. But, by the time we were leaving (good foods in hand) we decided we’d just get one of their chicken biscuits.
One bite. That’s all it took. One bite to ask myself: I waited four years, for this?
The biscuit was dry, the chicken overly greasy – as it shot grease on the side of my face when I bit into it. Complete let down.
Lesson learned. Now, not only do I boycott McDonald’s because one morning sandwich is 20 grams of fat (perhaps that’s why I felt sick all day?!), but they are also fail in the tasty category.
So long McDonald’s. Fare thee well, may we never meet again.
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“Don’t say, “I will get even for this wrong.” Wait for the Lord to handle the matter.”
Proverbs 20:22, NLT
“Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,“I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.”
Romans 12:19, NLT
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If you remember, I posted some time ago about Julia and her lack of sleeping. By the end of August, we were waking up every two hours, each time resulting in me feeding her, as this seemed the only thing that would get any of us back into bed.
About 2 or 3 weeks ago (time escapes me), we went back to letting Julia cry – which mostly means that Jonathan and I went into the situation both agreeing on what/how/why we were training her. Oh boy. I have to say, I would rather deal with loads of dirty diapers, complete melt downs and just about anything more than crying it out at 2 in the morning. Ugh. Anyways, since Julia was waking up so frequently, we thought we should tackle the first wake up time and then over the course of a few weeks tackle the others.
The first night had everyone up for a good 2 1/2 hours. But, eventually she did manage to fall asleep without being nursed. And granted she woke up like 2 hours later, at least the first session was over. Each night for about a week went pretty much the same, with the crying becoming a little less each time (a little, meaning only an hour and a half). Once we felt we had finally tackled the first wake up time – as Julia was finally not waking up at that time – we decided to start the second one. But of course, she got sick. So everything we had slaved for flew out the window. Bummer. Thankfully, however, once we were back on track, she seemed to either sleep well past her first wake up time, or is easily consoled back to sleep.
She is still waking up twice a night to nurse, around 2 and again at 5. I had set out last weekend to help train her out of the 2ish wake up time, but then realizing that since we are going to Tennessee this weekend, everything will get thrown out of whack, I didn’t want to waste my time (or sleep). Once we get back, I fully plan on getting her down to just waking up at 5ish, and then try to break her of that one before she turns 1. Ha! With that last sentence, I am reminded of Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”
The other day I realized that I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in a year and a half. From the time I got pregnant, I would wake up needing to use the bathroom and then couldn’t fall back asleep because I was too nauseated. Then, obviously, once Julia arrived, she kept me up. I look forward to the day that I can sleep 8 hours straight. Part of me thinks this is wishful thinking, especially if I have any more children. But one can wish can’t they?
To ad or not to ad
Posted on: September 20, 2008
Last weekend Jonathan and I saw this book at Barnes and Noble. Jonathan jokingly said I should figure out a way to earn money from my blog. Ever since then I’ve been turning it over in my head.
I know people can make money from blogging. I know people would love to make money from blogging. But how do you do it? Really, I’ve got no clue.
Well today I did a search and came across AdSense by Google. Perhaps the whole world knows about this and I am just finding out. But apparently Google pays you to have ads on your blog. Then, dependent on a number of factors, they will send you a paycheck for some odd sum. From what I have read, the sum is pretty ridiculous. Not like whoa-I’ve-just-made-a-ton-of-money ridiculous, but will-the-bank-laugh-when-I-deposit-a-five-cent-check ridiculous. But hey, it’s money, right?
So, you’ll start seeing ads at the bottom of my blog. I’ve taken steps to ensure that they are in no way offensive or evil. But, if for whatever reason you see one that is questionable, please, please, please let me know. I really don’t want it to be like that. I’m not sure how long this will last, but I’m going to at least give it a try while I continue my (possibly unfruitful) search for a money making blog.
Truthful Thursday – Hebrews 12
Posted on: September 18, 2008
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“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child…For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening – it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”
Hebrews 12:5-6;10-11, NLT
A Wife Loved Like The Church 
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